Bugging devices at Gadkari residence, minister calls reports speculative

"Reports in a section of the media about listening devices having been found at my New Delhi residence are highly speculative," tweeted Gadkari on Sunday.

However, Union Home Ministry has ruled out a probe.

"Mr Gadkari has himself called it speculation. If so, how can we intervene?" said junior home minister Kiren Rijiju, speaking to media.

Presently, previous BJP president Rajnath Singh is the Union Home Minister.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh however speaking to a news agency demanded a probe calling it a bad omen.

Earlier a report in The Sunday Guardian said  high power listening devices were found in the bedroom of Nitin Gadkari at his 13 Teen Murti Lane residence in New Delhi. The discovery was "accidental" and a debugging exercise was immediately ordered.

The paper edited by well known journalist turned BJP leader  MJ Akbar, who is a party spokesperson, quoting "highly placed sources", said more devices were consequently discovered at the residence of the senior BJP leader who is also the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways. Gadkari has apparently informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat about the incident, it reported.

It reported: "Initial investigations have revealed that the bugs were 'planted in the house by a foreign agency since the sophisticated listening devices found are used only by western intelligence operatives, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA)'".

The paper said "it may be recalled that Edward Snowden's revelations carried by Washington Post on 30 June stated that top BJP leaders were under surveillance by a premier US spy agency.  "